System for altering virtual views

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to virtual reality, images and video, particularly to altering views of a virtual reality scene in response to movement of the environment, such as a vehicle.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to virtual reality, images andvideo, and particularly to altering views of a virtual reality scene inresponse to movement of the environment, such as a vehicle. Inparticular, the invention relates to altering the display on a displaydevice in a moving vehicle in response to the movement of the vehicleitself.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Changing a view of a virtual reality scene can be made in response tofor example a movement of the head of a viewer wearing virtual realitygoggles or to a movement of a hand of a wearer of a virtual realityglove.

In the case of gloves, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,537 describes adata glove designed to replace a computer keyboard. This glove uses flexsensors and electrical contacts on the fingertips to determine staticpositions representing the characters of the alphabet. U.S. Pat. No.5,184,319 discloses a data glove using strain gauges attached to thefingers of the glove to sense the bend of fingers, and to transmit thisinformation to a computer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,139 proposes use of aglove with contacts on the fingertips to be used as an input device fora video game.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,085 describes one implementation of a head mounteddisplay system that tracks the head of the user and changes the virtualdisplay according to the viewer head movement.

However, none of these known devices alter the view of a virtual realityscene as a result in the change of the environment, they alter the viewin response to input or action given by the user, just as a keyboard ora joystick would.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,710 and others by the same assignee, CaptivateNetwork Inc., disclose a system which distributes “real-time”information along with digital advertising to elevator display unitsmounted in elevators. The system includes an elevator display unithaving a display monitor for displaying general and commercialinformation to passengers within the elevator, and a local server which,receives scheduling information from a remote production server over adata communication path and, in accordance with the schedulinginformation, retrieves and formats the general and commercialinformation for display at the elevator display unit. However, thissystem supplies information to the riders in the elevator, not inresponse to the spatial movement of the elevator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to system for altering virtual viewscomprising one or more display devices located on a moving vehicle, thedevice linked to a computing device and one or more sensors that detectthe spatial movement direction of the vehicle and changes the contentpresented on the display device according to the detected movement orlack of movement of the vehicle.

The moving vehicle may be selected from among a bus, a taxi, a trainwhether above the ground or below, a plane, an elevator or any othermoving vehicle which can be fitted with a display device or means, suchas an electronic screen or projector.

The display device may be located on a wall of the moving vehicle, onthe ceiling, on the floor, in place of a window in the vehicle or anyother viewable location inside the vehicle or affixed outside thevehicle in such a manner so as to allow viewing from inside the vehicle.

The view can be changed by using pre-defined set of instructions,behavioral patterns or in any other manner that imply an action reactionscenario.

The display device is linked to a computing unit, such as a PC, or othercomputing device, such as an embedded system, as well as to one or morelocal or remote sensors.

The sensors may comprise an accelerometer, a gyro, a positioning sensor,an altimeter, a camera, a microphone, an RFID sensor or a motion sensorcapable of sensing a change in the environment.

In a preferred embodiment, the sensor is linked to one or more memoryunits, such as a hard drive, flash memory or other storage unit local orremote that is capable of storing images or scenes or any other type ofcontent to be transmitted to the display system in real time or offline.

The system in whole reacts to the movement of the vehicle or themovement of the objects (such as people) inside the vehicle or both, bychanging the content that is rendered on the display device incorrelation with the actual physical sensation of the people in thevehicle or in the vehicle local or remote surroundings.

The display itself is agnostic to the location or the current state ofthe screen, such that for example a screen can be rotating constantly,while the content shown on the screen remains aligned to the viewer andreacts to the movement vector of the vehicle in physical space and notto the movement of the display inside the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification.The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation,together with features and advantages thereof, may best be understood byreference to the following detailed description when read with theaccompanied drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a display in a moving vehicle being an elevatorin accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the invention where the display device(s)are situated in a moving vehicle being a train car.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, various embodiments of the invention willbe described. For purposes of explanation, specific examples are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of at least oneembodiment of the invention. However, it will also be apparent to oneskilled in the art that other embodiments of the invention are notlimited to the examples described herein. Furthermore, well-knownfeatures may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscureembodiments of the invention described herein.

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which shows a diagram of a display in avehicle being an elevator in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. The vehicle, i.e. the elevator 100 is outfitted with one ormore display devices, e.g. electronic screens 102 that one of which isshown located in the embodiment of FIG. 1 on one wall of the elevator100. The one or more screens 102 are linked to a computing unit 104,such as a PC, as well as to one or more sensors 106, such as for examplean accelerometer, a positioning sensor, an altimeter, a camera, a motionsensor, a microphone or other sensors. Computing unit 104 may also belinked to one or more memory units 108, such as a hard drive, flashmemory or other mass data storage unit or to a network device 110 thatis linked to a remote storage and/or application server that cantransmit or change existing images or scenes that are transmitted fordisplay on the screens 102.

In operation, computing unit 104 issues a signal to screen 102 toproject a view of a virtual scene or any type of content, such as ascene that is other than the scene that would be viewed by looking outthe window of elevator 100. For example, if the elevator is ascendingand descending inside a shopping mall, the scene that could be shown onscreen 102 may e.g. be a scene of a street in Paris, or a scene thatwould be visible while diving though a coral reef, or a scene that wouldbe visible if moving in a canyon on Mars. Any movement of elevator 100is sensed by sensor 106, such as an altimeter and/or an accelerometer,which detects that the elevator is ascending or descending, and signalssuch movement to computing unit 104. Computing unit 104 signals screen102 inside of the elevator to change the displayed scene to show a viewof, for example, Paris, as would be seen from a glass elevator in Paris,where such view matches the height of the elevator to the height of theview that is shown of Paris on the display. Alternatively, the viewshown on screen 102 is how a coral reef would have been seen when goingup and down in an elevator at the bottom of the ocean. It is possible toapply different behaviors to different objects such that for example afish 112 could swim along the virtual window to the ocean while theelevator goes up and down. Similarly, if one or more screens 102 areplaced in a vehicle being a bus or a taxi cab, the processor as areaction of the sensor input would advance the displayed scene forwardor backwards so that, for example, the virtual view of the street inParis would advance forward as if the bus or the taxi cab were movingdown the street in Paris. Thus, the display could show a pedestrian on aParisian street, who is walking on a sidewalk when the vehicle moves.The displayed view of the pedestrian would appear to move ahead of thevehicle when the vehicle is stopped. Once the vehicle moves forward, forexample down a street in New York, the view of the Parisian pedestrianwould be overtaken by the vehicle so that the vehicle would appear to bemoving ahead of the pedestrian. As the vehicle makes, e.g. a left turn,the scene that is shown on the screen may likewise change to show thescene that would appear had a vehicle in Paris made a left turn.

In FIG. 1, one screen 102 is shown. In another embodiment, several suchscreens 102 could be coordinated to present a panoramic view of a scenefrom some or all sides of the elevator 100.

In some embodiments, riders of the vehicle see the scenes that theywould see through the windows of vehicle, had vehicle been in adifferent place, and the movement of the scenes would be dictated by themovement of the vehicle, as exemplified by the description of the bus ortaxi cab above.

In another embodiment, a displayed scene may respond to movements of aviewer as if such viewer was present in the scene. For example, a cameraor other image capture or motion detection device may sense a movementof a viewer towards a screen 102 that is showing a scene of fish 112swimming. In response to the movement of the viewer as is detected bythe motion detector, the fish may be shown as frightened and as swimmingaway from the viewer.

In one embodiment, memory 108 may store a scene of for example a giantbottle of a beverage, and the view that will be shown on the display, isa view that would be seen by a viewer who is ascending up the side ofthe beverage in an elevator. The possibilities for the view on thescreens and the changes in the views in response to a change in theenvironment are of course numerous.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. In block 200, a sensor issues a signal to a computing unit inresponse to the movement of a vehicle or a change in the environmentsurrounding. In block 202, a computing unit signals a display 206 as aresult of checking with a local or remote logic or data center 204 tomove a scene or some pre-defined parts of the scene, or change thecontents shown on such display to mimic or react to a movement of thevehicle, or a change in the environment, as if the vehicle were movingthrough the scene being displayed or changing it and effecting itscontent.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of the interior of a passenger train car 300 thathas a screen facing the direction of movement 301, and a further screenthat is facing the side view 302. The screens are connected to a boxthat contains a computing unit, a storage and\or networking device and asensor 304. The system changes the content presented on the screensaccording to the movement of the train. In one embodiment side screenthat is positioned on the train car window 302 can show virtual content307 that correlates to the actually observed view 306 in the window andadds on top of it virtual content 308, reacting to the train movement.

Likewise, content presented on screen 301 can show a virtual scene thatsimulates an actual window was facing the direction of movement. Inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention, multiple screens can bedeployed in several locations inside or outside of the car. It is alsounderstood that further horizontal system embodiments can be deployed inlocations such as underground trains, taxi cabs, busses and othervehicles, in addition to the specific embodiments described above withreference to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings.

1-13. (canceled)
 14. A system for altering a virtual reality scenedisplayed on one or more display devices on a moving vehicle comprising:a computing unit, one or more sensors and one or more display devices,wherein the computing unit, in response to input received from one ormore sensors located on the vehicle, signals to the one or more displaydevices to project a virtual reality scene, the scene being differentthan the scene that would be viewed by looking out a window of thevehicle and not representing real-time information
 15. A systemaccording to claim 14, comprising two or more display devices.
 16. Asystem according to claim 14, wherein the display device is locatedinside the vehicle.
 17. A system according to claim 14, wherein thedisplay device is located outside the vehicle.
 18. A system according toclaim 14, wherein the vehicle is selected from among a bus, a taxi, atrain, a plane and an elevator.
 19. A system according to claim 14,wherein the display device is located on a wall of the moving vehicle,on the ceiling, on the floor, in place of a window in the vehicle or anyother viewable location inside the vehicle or affixed outside thevehicle in such a manner so as to allow viewing.
 20. A system accordingto claim 14, wherein the display device is an electronic screen.
 21. Asystem according to claim 14, where the display device is a projectorthat is projecting the content in or out of the vehicle.
 22. A systemaccording to claim 14, wherein the computing unit is an embedded system.23. A system according to claim 22, wherein the computing unit is a PC.24. A system according to claim 14, wherein the one or more sensorscomprise an accelerometer, a gyro, a positioning sensor, an altimeter, acamera, a microphone, an RFID sensor or a motion sensor capable ofsensing a change in the environment
 25. A system according to claim 22,wherein the one or more sensors are linked to one or more memory units,selected from a hard drive, flash memory or other storage unit locallyor remotely that is capable of storing virtual reality scenes to betransmitted to the display device in real time or offline.